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Emu's World
Emu was an anarchic puppet of Rod Hull, and after successfully appearing on a number of variety shows, he was given his own television series on ITV in the 80's. In 1981, Rod Hull was offered the opportunity to make a series for younger children by the newly-awarded ITV franchise Central Independent Television. This led to the birth of the Pink Windmill in which Rod and Emu lived, the green witch named Grotbags (played by the singer and comedian Carol Lee Scott), and her hopeless assistant Croc (originally played by Freddie Stevens but later by David Tate). The premise of the show was simple: each week Grotbags attempted to steal Emu so that, once captured, (in Grotbags's own words) she would be able to use its "special powers" to control all the "brats" in the world. In some episodes though, especially later on and on special Christmas and Easter episodes, she is determined to capture Emu for the leader of the Witch's Institute, The Magnificent Fred. Children from the Corona Stage School – referred to collectively as the Pink Windmill Kids – were on hand to offer protection and break into one or two song and dance routines per episode. One of the best-remembered moments of the show is Rod Hull's chanted catchphrase "There's somebody at the door, oh, there's somebody at the door" every time a visitor rang the doorbell of the Pink Windmill – which 'sneezed' loudly when pressed. The success of Emu's World led to the series being expanded in mid-1984 from 20-minute to 42-minute episodes and re-branded as the Pink Windmill Show. The target age range was broadened, and the programme now featured viewer phone calls, a studio audience, games such as one in Grotbags's grotto based on the format of the "take the money or open the box" segment of Take Your Pick!, the Post Office (for viewers to send their letters and pictures), and Boggle's Kingdom – a mini-series featuring Rod's ancestor who is trapped in Tudor times. A subsequent addition was the Twin Schools section, which aimed to pair British schools with similar ones in Australia, Canada, or the US. The singing and dancing of the Pink Windmill Kids was retained, extra character Robot Redford (played by Freddie Stevens) introduced, and the show in this format achieved enormous popularity (evidenced by being broadcast in the coveted Children's ITV slot of last thing on a Friday). Three series were broadcast live from 1984 to 1986 (despite the third run dropping "All Live" from the title), and in 1987 two series of Emu's Wide World were made. These followed a similar formula to the Pink Windmill Shows, but were pre-recorded, resulting in the phone-based Spin Quiz being replaced by Emu's Bargain Basement – an obstacle course in a supermarket. A final series of Emu's World aired in 1988, which retained Boggle's Kingdom and introduced an outdoors obstacle course despite being cut to a 20-minute run time. All series were produced and directed by Colin Clews for Central TV and broadcast from the now-defunct East Midlands Television Centre in Nottingham. Following the demise of Emu's World, Rod Hull went to Canada and recorded a single series of EMU-TV, based heavily on his earlier Emu's Broadcasting Company series. His co-stars this time were Murray Langston and Carolyn Scott, while Les Foubracs made regular guest appearances. These episodes were brought back to the UK and re-edited for a British audience by Central TV, with a small number of additional segments featuring Grotbags and the Pink Windmill Kids also being shot. This series also saw the return of Grotbags along with her old assistant Croc and new servent, the butler Grovel. Episode 5 of this series features future England international footballer Emile Heskey running an obstacle course and accidentally being called "Emily". The introduction animation was created by Graham Garside, who also worked on Jamie and the Magic Torch. In 1991, a 13 episode animated series called Rod 'n' Emu was broadcasted. Lasting only one season, it featured the voice talents of Rod Hull, Carol Lee Scott and Freddie Stevens. The series was animated and produced by FilmFair, who worked on other Central and CITV shows such as Huxley Pig. This was the last series that featured Hull and Scott before Hull's bankruptcy due to unpayed taxes while he bought and renovated Restoration House, an Elizabethian mansion. He died in 1999. Carol Lee Scott later starred in her own series, Grotbags. She died in 2017. Emu's World and its various spin offs became obscure and lost over the years, with no known VHS releases. In the 2010s however, episodes were recovered on recorded VHSes and uploaded onto Youtube and since then, Emu's television franchise has grown a cult following and a clip of Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Showof the kids energetically dancing to Can't Stop the Music became an internet meme. In 2016 the Emu's Kids reunited to remake the segment for Comic Relief. Category:CITV Shows Category:1980s shows Category:Shows with puppets